The Space Between

On a scale of 1-10 how hectic would you say your day is? Do you find yourself rushing from activity to activity? At the end of the day can you remember everything you did? Do you often find yourself repeating the same mistakes over and over again?
If so you may be human... but you may also be missing an important step in life. This step I call "the Space Between" some people call it time to reflect, meditate, or ponder.

Savasana is the final relaxation pose that we take at the end of each yoga class. We lay down on our mats and try to completely relax the body as we focus and clear the mind. Savasana (shavasana) is a Sanskrit word (language of the Yogi's) which is roughly translated as corpse pose. There is a great deal of symbolism in this deeply relaxing pose.



 and no, its not supposed to be just a nap time.


The point of Savasana or corpse pose was to act as a symbol of the death and life cycle.  That each time they died, they laid down the old and could begin again with the new. Savasana is a symbol of laying down the old and beginning again.

Corpse pose or Savasana represents death. Does that give you the heebie jeebies? While Yoga is not a religion, it was a form of spiritual worship for religious people such as the Hindus. In their world death was not something to be feared (unless of course you had done poorly), but something to celebrate for if you had done well in this life, when you died you would be reincarnated into a higher caste or class until they reached a state of Nirvana. Nirvana being when their soul is finally released from the life and death cycle and it becomes one with the universe. They only saw death as the space between one life and another.

When we brainlessly rush from work to school to homework to dinner to sleep without ever pausing for a moment to re-energize, reflect and learn from our experiences we tend to miss out on important opportunities for learning, growth, enjoyment, etc. If we never reflect on your thoughts, actions and efforts we might find ourselves repeating past failures and our thoughts tend to dwell more in the past preventing us from enjoying the present and preparing for the future.

As we take time to pause, self-reflect, meditate in The Space Between we will find several changes taking place in both our bodies and mind.

Some of the benefits:

- decreased anxiety
- increased sense of relaxation and peace with life
- increased vitality
- greater insight into your own thoughts and actions
- ability to see more clearly what you need to do next
- fewer repitions of mistakes and wrong choices
- increased sense of self worth

The challenge:

Make a conscious decision that you will take a moment to pause, reflect and meditate in the space between activities. And if there is no space... well make one. we don't have to ALWAYS be doing something visible you know. The key to using the Space Between isn't necessarily how long you pause or whether you lay down in corpse pose so that you can fully relax.  The key is that you pause to reflect, meditate and clear the mind. If you have the opportunity and can sit back or lay down and relax, Wonderful! But more often than not you might not be able to do the physical svasana but you can take a mental break.

How to Enjoy the Space Between:
- Try to take a moment between activities in your schedule to

• First clear your mind and focus on your breath for a few moments.     
• When necessary reflect on your experiences
• Enjoy the experience and try to gain some insight or inspiration from it
•  Congratulate yourself for your efforts in making good choices and working hard
•  Recognize your faults, weaknesses and mistakes. Accept and own them and the negative consequences they bring.
• Have faith in your ability to try again and to improve. When necessary make plans to repair damage that you may have caused.
• End by re-focusing the mind on the breath, as thoughts of the past or future come up try to clear away this debris (random thoughts and ideas) by either writing them down or storing them on a mental shelf for later.

And most importantly Do not critize or judge yourself harshly, if you recognize and own both your strengths and your weaknesses you have no need to put yourself down. Doing so will not help you to be better. Recognize the opportunity to learn and grow from the experience because if you can do that, it was not wasted.


I hope we can all learn from the Yogi's and remember the symbol of Savasana.

Happy Training,
Coach Becky, HFS, USAT Level 1

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